9 Best React Native Animation Libraries in 2025

Why do some mobile apps feel smooth while others feel clunky? The difference often comes down to animations. According to Google research, 53% of mobile site visits are abandoned if pages take longer than three seconds to load. The same principle applies to mobile apps; poor performance drives users away. 

The truth is, smooth animations in React Native apps are no longer a luxury; they’re a must-have for a modern, engaging user experience. In today's competitive app market, users expect fluid screen transitions, fun micro-interactions, and visual feedback that feels natural. This high standard of user interface (UI) design pushes developers to find the best animation libraries for React Native.

React Native has grown a lot, offering one codebase for both iOS and Android apps. While it has a built-in animation system (the React Native Animated API), developers often need more powerful, flexible, and high-performance tools to create truly smooth animations in React Native apps. 

The right React Native animation libraries can dramatically cut down development time and boost your app's feeling of quality. In this article, we’ll explore the 9 best animation libraries for React Native 2025 that can help you master React Native animations, from simple fading to complex React Native gesture animation examples.

9 Best React Native Animation Libraries in 2025

1. React Native Reanimated

React Native Reanimated runs animations separately from your app's main code. Your animations stay smooth even when the app is doing other things. This is the go-to choice for creating smooth animations in React Native apps that don't stutter or lag. The library handles everything from simple fades to complicated touch-based animations without slowing things down.

It works perfectly with React Native Gesture Handler for swipe-to-delete actions, draggable items, and touch interactions. Big companies like Shopify and Expo use Reanimated in their apps because it delivers consistent, smooth performance. The way it's built means gestures respond instantly without any delay, which makes your app feel professional and polished.

Features:

• Runs separately for smooth 60 FPS performance
• Touch-driven animations that respond instantly
• Entry and exit animations for screens
• Smooth transitions between different screens
• Works with the gesture library for swipes and drags

Pros:

• Works great on both iPhone and Android
• Handles complicated animations without lag
• Lots of community support and updates
• Good guides and examples

Cons:

• Takes longer to learn than simpler options
• Too much for basic fade or slide effects
• Needs understanding of how it works under the hood

2. React Native Animated API

The built-in Animated API comes with React Native. You don't need to install anything extra. It works fine for basic effects like fading, growing, and shrinking, and simple movements. For straightforward animations that don't need complicated touches or swipes, the built-in option is lightweight and gets the job done.

Facebook uses it for subtle effects in React Native parts of their app. Most React Native developers already know how it works, and there are tons of help and tutorials online. While it's not as powerful as Reanimated, mainly because it can slow down when your app is busy, it's perfectly fine for test apps and projects with simple animation needs. You can make multiple things animate at once, run effects one after another, and smoothly change between values.

Features:

• Already included (nothing to install)
• Fade, grow, spin, and move effects
• Smooth value changes
• Run multiple animations together or in order
• Works with most React Native parts

Pros:

• No installation needed
• Familiar to React Native developers
• Lots of help is available online
• Good enough for basic needs

Cons:

• It can slow down during heavy use
• Limited for swipe and drag features
• Not great for apps needing top performance

3. React Native Gesture Handler

React Native Gesture Handler handles touch interactions using your phone's native system, which means better performance and faster response than React Native's built-in touch features. Combined with Reanimated, you can make drag-and-drop interfaces, swipeable cards, and pinch-to-zoom features. This library fixes performance problems with React Native's built-in touch system by handling touches entirely on the native side.

The library gives you clear commands for handling touch events and works tightly with Reanimated for creating React Native gesture animation examples. It handles touch events separately for smooth recognition without any delay. Apps like Tinder use similar patterns for their card-swiping interface. React Native Gesture Handler makes these patterns straightforward while keeping smooth 60 FPS performance even during complicated multi-touch gestures.

Features:

• Native touch recognition
• Tap, swipe, pinch, rotate, and fling support
• Works perfectly with Reanimated
• Consistent touches on iPhone and Android
• Handles touches separately for speed

Pros:

• Much faster than built-in touch handling
• Essential for swipe and drag features
• Works perfectly with Reanimated
• Handles tricky situations automatically

Cons:

• Need to learn new commands
• Can clash with other touch handlers
• Not needed if your app doesn't have swipes or drags

4. Lottie React Native

Lottie React Native connects designers and developers. Your designer makes an animation in Adobe After Effects, exports it as a file, and you drop it into your app. No recreating complicated animations by hand or using big video files. This is one of the most lightweight React Native animation libraries because these animations are much smaller than videos or GIFs.

The animations look sharp on any screen size and stay really small. A typical Lottie animation might be 20-50KB, while the same thing as a video could be several megabytes. Airbnb created Lottie, and now companies like Uber and Netflix use it for welcome screens and loading animations. You can change colors on the fly, adjust speed, and play just parts of an animation.

Features:

• Works with Adobe After Effects animations
• Scales to any screen size without blur
• Tiny file sizes (usually under 100KB)
• Looks the same on iPhone and Android
• Control playback (play, pause, change speed)

Pros:

• Designers create animations without developer help.
• Very small file sizes
• Always looks crisp and clear
• Simple to add to your app

Cons:

• Needs Adobe After Effects to make animations
• Doesn't work well for touch-based animations
• Can't easily change individual parts

5. React Native Skia

React Native Skia brings Google's Skia graphics engine to React Native. It's essential for making custom drawings, charts, complex visuals, and effects that normal React Native parts can't do. While not really an animation library, it's crucial for complex visual effects and custom designs that need detailed control.

Skia handles high-performance graphics, charts, and custom drawing that other libraries can't manage. Canva uses it to show design elements smoothly in their mobile apps. The library uses your device's graphics card for smooth rendering and gives you complete control over 2D graphics. You can make custom shapes, add visual effects, build data charts, and create animations that would be impossible with standard components.

Features:

• 2D graphics using the device graphics card
• Custom drawing, paths, and shapes
• Visual effects and filters
• Works with Reanimated for animations
• Fast, smooth rendering

Pros:

• Handles complicated graphics that other libraries can't
• Perfect for charts, graphs, and data display
• Uses a graphics card for speed
• Complete control over how things look

Cons:

• Hard to learn if you're new to graphics
• Too much for normal button and fade animations
• Makes your app file bigger

6. React Native Shared Element

React Native Shared Element makes things smoothly move between screens. Images grow from a small thumbnail in a list to fill the whole screen when tapped. It works with React Navigation. This library focuses specifically on making one thing flow from one screen to another, creating a smooth visual connection.

The library handles tricky problems like flickering and cut-off edges automatically. It can morph shapes and change sizes between screens. Apps like Instagram and Pinterest do this all the time. When you tap a photo in your feed, it smoothly expands to fill your screen. React Native Shared Element makes this pattern much easier than building it yourself from scratch.

Features:

• Smooth item transitions between screens
• Fast performance without slowdowns
• Fixes flicker and display problems automatically
• Change shapes and sizes smoothly
• Works great with React Navigation

Pros:

• Creates polished, professional transitions
• Pretty easy to set up with React Navigation
• Handles tricky edge cases for you
• Smooth, fast performance

Cons:

• Only does screen transitions
• Works best with React Navigation
• It can be hard to fix when something goes wrong

7. React Native Animatable

React Native Animatable gives you 60+ ready-made animations. Need a button to bounce? A pop-up to fade in? A notification to slide down? This library handles it with simple code. It wraps your components with easy commands that make them animate without complicated setup.

The library includes common animations like fadeIn, slideInDown, bounce, shake, and pulse that work with just a few lines of code. You can connect animations, add delays, and make them repeat forever. It's perfect for small touches, those little animations that show users their tap worked or their action is processing. The library works great for loading spinners and progress bars without needing any complex configuration.

Features:

• 60+ ready-to-use animation styles
• Simple, clear commands
• Adjust timing and speed easily
• Smooth changes between states
• Repeat and delay options

Pros:

• Quick to set up
• Perfect for common button and pop-up effects
• No complicated setup needed
• Great for loading animations

Cons:

• Not flexible enough for custom animations
• Doesn't work for swipe and drag features
• Not as fast as Reanimated

8. Moti

Moti builds on top of Reanimated but makes it easier to use. It's inspired by Framer Motion, so it feels familiar if you've done web animations. You get Reanimated's speed without the hard learning curve. The library sits on top of Reanimated, giving you fast performance while keeping the code simple and clear.

Moti makes animations straightforward while keeping great performance. It's especially good for developers who want powerful animations without learning Reanimated's complicated parts. The library handles screen layout animations with very little code and includes ready-made patterns for common effects. If you're coming from web development and know Framer Motion, Moti will feel right at home.

Features:

• Built on Reanimated for fast performance
• Simple commands like Framer Motion
• Layout animations with little code
• Ready-made animation patterns
• Works great with TypeScript

Pros:

• Easier to learn than Reanimated
• Still performs well
• Perfect for web developers switching to mobile
• Clean, easy-to-read code

Cons:

• Smaller community than Reanimated
• Less control for super complicated animations
• Newer, so fewer tutorials available

9. React Spring

React Spring uses spring physics instead of duration and easing curves. This creates motion that feels organic. When users interact with your app, spring-based animations respond intuitively. The physics-based approach creates smooth transitions that feel natural and responsive. It's particularly effective for bouncing effects, smooth modal transitions, and motion-based UI elements. Microsoft Teams uses it for smooth modal and notification animations. The hooks-based API with useSpring and useTransition makes implementation straightforward for developers familiar with React hooks.

Features:

• Physics-based spring animations
• Hooks-based API (useSpring, useTransition)
• Cross-platform support (React and React Native)
• Gesture integration capabilities
• Interpolation for complex animation sequences

Pros:

• Creates natural-feeling motion
• Good for interactive elements and gestures
• Works across web and mobile React projects
• Smooth performance for most use cases

Cons:

• Unpredictable if you need precise timing
• Less documentation than Reanimated
• May require tweaking spring configs

Choosing the Right Library for Your Project

For high-performance apps with complex interactions: React Native Reanimated handles everything from simple fades to complex gesture-based animations.

For designer-created animations: Lottie React Native lets designers own the animation process. Good for onboarding flows, loading states, and polished motion graphics.

For quick prototypes and simple animations: React Native Animatable or the built-in Animated API get you moving fast.

For natural-feeling motion: React Spring creates physics-based animations.

For screen transitions: React Native Shared Element makes navigation between screens seamless.

Most production apps use multiple libraries. You might use Reanimated for main interactions, Lottie for loading animations, and Shared Element for screen transitions.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a Library

Running too many animations at once overwhelms devices and causes dropped frames. Keep simultaneous animations to a minimum.

Ignoring Android performance is common. What runs smoothly on an iPhone might struggle on a budget Android device. Test on real devices, especially mid-range Android phones.

Over-animating everything makes your app feel gimmicky. Not every button needs to bounce. Use animations purposefully.

Forgetting accessibility means some users will have a poor experience. Respect system settings for reduced motion.

Final Thoughts

The React Native animation ecosystem in 2025 is mature. You don't need to be an animation expert to create smooth, engaging mobile apps. The libraries we've covered handle everything from simple fades to complex, gesture-driven interactions.

Start with what fits your skill level. React Native Animatable is good for beginners. As you grow more comfortable, Reanimated opens up more possibilities. Lottie connects the worlds of design and development.

The best approach is often to use multiple libraries together. Use Reanimated for core interactions, Lottie for polished graphics, and Shared Element for screen transitions.

Animations should enhance your app, not complicate it. Choose lightweight React Native animation libraries that match your needs, test on real devices, and prioritize user experience over flashy effects. The React Native animation ecosystem in 2025 is mature. You don't need to be an animation expert to create smooth, engaging, low-cost mobile app development. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: What is the best animation library for React Native beginners?

A: React Native Animatable is ideal for beginners. It provides 60+ pre-built animations with a simple API that requires minimal setup, letting you add smooth animations quickly.

Q: How do I add animations in React Native without hurting performance?

A: Use libraries like React Native Reanimated that run animations on the native thread. Avoid running too many animations simultaneously, and test on real devices, especially mid-range Android phones.

Q: Can I use Lottie animations in React Native apps?

A: Yes, Lottie React Native lets you import JSON animations from Adobe After Effects. It's lightweight, scalable, and good for adding designer-created animations to your mobile apps with minimal code.

Q: What's the difference between Reanimated and the Animated API?

A: Reanimated runs on the native thread for better performance and supports complex gesture interactions. The built-in Animated API runs on a JavaScript thread and is suitable for simpler transitions.

Q: Which React Native animation library is best for gesture-based interactions?

A: React Native Reanimated, combined with React Native Gesture Handler, provides the best performance and flexibility for gesture-driven animations like swipe-to-delete, drag-and-drop, and pinch-to-zoom features.